Every
once in awhile I see a post on an atheist blog that oozes outrage
over the very idea that Christians could be happy in heaven knowing
that some of their loved ones are in hell.
The
real question being asked is, “How could you be happy
while I’m not?”
Actually,
atheist, you’ll be lucky if anyone is thinking of you at all; even
the other people in hell. Hell is going to be one case where misery
does not love company. In the total absence of love, it’s going to
be a total all consuming self-obsession.
How
dare you be happy when I’m sad?
How
dare you enjoy yourself when I’m determined to have a bad time?
It
happens all the time with children who are throwing a tantrum. The
whole point of a tantrum is to make the adult pay for not giving in
to the child’s demands. Be it screams or stamping of feet or
throwing toys, nothing makes a child, or childish adult angrier than
noticing that the other person is going on with life as per normal.
And that’s what really bugs atheists. It’s the idea that other
people will carry on with their lives, that other people will
actually enjoy their lives, and allow the atheist to reap the
consequences of h/her decision.
I’ve
actually had atheists tell me, “God should force me to believe in
Him.”
Ya,
right. Like you wouldn’t complain about that!
No
one is going to celebrate the fact that someone they cared about
decided to reject Jesus’ offer of salvation. No one.
On
the other hand, no one could have talked you out of making that
decision - could they?
Of
course hell is horrific beyond imagination. All the more reason to
let Jesus rescue you from going there - don’t you think?
Not
to atheists.
You’d
rather go to hell and then tantrum because other people did what was
necessary to avoid it. It’s not like you weren’t aware of your
options. You’ve determined to remain on the road to hell for most
of your adult life. So whose fault is that if not your own?
It’s
something like parents who warn and warn and warn their child, Don’t
drink alcohol or do other drugs before driving. And the kid does it
repeatedly and finally gets a DUI. And they warn and warn and warn,
and the kid does it some more and wrecks h/her car. And they warn and
warn and warn, and then the kid runs a stop sign and kills a friend
or the child of someone else. The parents don’t enjoy the pain and
heartache their child will live with, but what can they do?
Should
they stop their life because their kid’s a fool who pushes away available help?
It’s
like friends who warn a young woman to quit having careless /
reckless sex with strangers. But she continues year after year. In
fact, the more they warn her the more determined she seems to
continue, until one night she’s beaten beyond recognition. The
friends don’t enjoy the fact that she wouldn’t listen, but what
could they do?
Co
Dependency is when the quality of my day is dependent on the quality
of your day. People in heaven, people in the very presence of
Creator God, people in the presence of His glory and majesty and
power, people enjoying complete and total freedom from evil and
violence, people who are in the presence of total and absolute Love
are not very likely to look away and wonder what’s going on with
those who refused the invitation.
Christianity
is anti-Co Dependent. Christianity demands independence.
Rather than going along
with the sheeple who are too afraid to challenge atheist propaganda
and indoctrination, those who follow Jesus must walk a narrow, narrow
path that most people are simply not willing to travel.
In the end
it’s just the Christian and God. I’m not going to have to answer
for your decisions and behaviours, and you are not going to have to
answer for mine.
Of
course I won’t be happy that you’ve chosen hell, but neither will
I go there with you to hold your hand. As one person said, “I'll do
a lot of things for my friends, but going to hell is not one of
them.”
Eternity goes on my friend.
Choose
life or choose death.
Either
way, the choice is yours.
“I
tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of
salvation.” 2nd
Corinthians 6:2
What
kind of fool would turn down an invitation like that?
Every once in awhile I see a post on an atheist blog that oozes outrage over the very idea that Christians could be happy in heaven knowing that some of their loved ones are in hell.
ReplyDeleteThe real question being asked is, “How could you be happy while I’m not?”
You cannot help but interpret what someone says to mean what you THINK they wanted to say... and once again you are completely off track.
First of all, I would be very surprised if you find Atheists that are literally 'outrage' by what you describe. I believe you confuse outrage with exasperation... Atheists do not believe that Hell exists; they cannot be outraged by what's going on in an imaginary place.
Moreover, the way you phrased the question also shows another misunderstanding. You think that Atheists wonder how someone else they love, and love them, could be happy knowing that they are themselves not happy. That's not the point at all. The point is that we KNOW that people we love would not be happy to know that we are ourselves being tortured for eternity. We can thus do a thought experiment and imagine what would happen if Heaven and Hell were real. That's when we get into these bizarre scenarios where people are in Heaven while their loved ones are in Hell. Do they know what's happening? Are they happy anyway? Etc... but these are all just 'what if' scenarios that yield absolutely no reason to be outraged. It's just stories.